DAP congratulates Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem on his big win in the Sarawak elections yesterday. DAP hopes that he can fulfil his promises of a Sarawak that is prosperous and fair to all regardless of race and religion, restore economic rights and political autonomy that will respect the rights, honour and dignity of Sarawakians.

DAP thanks all voters who supported the party and accepts the results of the Sarawak state elections. DAP’s loss of 5 state seats out of the previous 12 seats was due to the personal popularity of Tan Sri Adenan. Tan Sri Adenan’s personal popularity overcame whatever unease at the barring of opposition leaders from Peninsular Malaysia into Sarawak and the extensive use of money politics.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak should be thankful that Tan Sri Adenan’s popularity allowed the Sarawak electorate to overlook BN’s abuses of power, financial scandals of RM4.2 billon donation or RM50 billion 1MDB, and even ignore the suffering of higher prices caused by GST. DAP rejects the claim by Najib that the big win by BN in the Sarawak state elections is an endorsement of the GST when not one voter, including pro-BN voters, expressed support for the GST.

The party will conduct a post-mortem and await a full report from our DAP Sarawak Chair Chong Chien Jen on our losses, including our failure to make any headway when we contested in rural Dayak seats. However there are glimmers of hope in several Dayak constituencies, where the DAP candidate obtained some support. As politics is a long-term struggle, our leaders must continue their work in these areas under the Impian Sarawak programme, as well as to regain our lost seats.

DAP will continue to work with our allies in Pakatan Harapan, PKR and Amanah. We need to address the disappointment of our supporters, not just as a political party, but also as Pakatan Harapan. There is a need to strengthen the internal mechanisms within Pakatan Harapan so that agreements made must be respected and upheld. Pakatan must wok hard to restore public confidence of our ability to work together in concert against BN.

Tan Sri Adenan has been able to reinvent himself and shown a new political path or model to reverse BN’s slide in popularity and support since the 2008 general elections. The big challenge of Pakatan Harapan is whether Datuk Seri Najib dares to adopt the Tan Sri Adenan model by rejecting extremist and racist policies. Should Najib dare to do so, then Pakatan Harapan may face a fight for survival in the next general elections.